Canvas has been a preferred medium of painters and artists for centuries. Traditionally, mounting a canvas to a frame required a great amount of time and effort. Assembling the frame so that it was squared, and then fastening the stretched canvas over the frame could be considered an art form in and of itself. Most frames are built from wood which has many drawbacks. Wood contracts and expands over time resulting in the continual sagging and retightening of canvas stretched over wooden frames which causes the painting to crack and chip requiring costly restoration.
In an attempt to overcome these drawbacks, some related frames have been made out of aluminum, plastic, or other manmade materials. U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,524 filed on Mar. 12, 2003, by Eastwood et al, describes an aluminum frame that is welded together. The canvas is applied onto the frame and attached with staples or other similar means. While the aluminum frame prevents expansion and contraction, the method of attaching the canvas to the frame is inadequate and may result in damage to the canvas.
To prevent damage to the canvas caused by the attachment means listed above, some related frames have employed bracket mechanisms. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/160,356 filed Jun. 21, 2005 by Hsiang-Chuan Liu et al. describes a nail-free interchangeable canvas frame system. The disclosed frame uses complex brackets that expand and press the canvas into the corners of the frame, eliminating damage caused by staples, nails, and similar attachment means. This system requires mastering the complex bracket assembly process and consumes a significant amount of time to construct.
Some other types of frames have attempted to simplify the canvas mounting process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,510 filed May 7, 2002, by Ocampo et al. describes a fabric gripping and stretching system that utilizes a plurality of linear gripping members that are attached to the four sides of the canvas. The gripping members are then inserted into receptive channels on the four sides of the frame, thereby securing the canvas to the device. This system requires careful alignment and attachment of the gripping members to the canvas which ultimately damages the canvas and requires a significant amount of time.
Therefore, a need exists for novel systems and apparatuses for framing canvas commonly used in the painting and art industry, which are made from a material that will not expand and contract over time. It is a further need for the framing system to be able to secure canvases without causing damage even with repeated mountings and unmountings. It is still a further need for the faming system to be easily and quickly assembled and also for the canvas to be mounted and unmounted to a wall or support structure in an easy and quick manner.